Erussery

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Right now, I'm an expert in Erussery. Do you spell it Erissery? I always pronounce it Erussery in Malayalam. So I'm going ahead with that spelling. Back to why I'm an expert. In my last post I mentioned I made three of the Onam dishes on Independence day. Plus I had the Inji Puli. So If I made a sambar, I'd pretty much have the main components of a vegetarian meal. Now, now, don't be picky. I know there's more to a vegetarian meal than that. But for now, this works.




The only problem is, the day I made it, I kept the Erussery out a while. 1) to cool, 2) to take pictures (which I admit I failed miserably), 3) to stick a spoonful of it in my mouth everytime I was in the near vicinity. Yes I admit, I'm a fan of Erussery. Waaaaay more than of Avial, it's more popular cousin. I kept it in the fridge a couple of days and pulled it out around the time my friends were coming over and it just didn't smell right. And then I realized, or rather my mum told me, never ever keep a dish with coconut in it out for too long. It goes bad. So I made another fresh batch of erussery just in time for my friends. I don't know if they enjoyed it that much, but I did. Also I got to learn a lot more of the textures involved. How not to grind the coconut too much for the mix. How to fry the coconut just right to give it a crunch. Yes, it gets better with each trial.


Erussery is pretty simple and even if you get it wrong, it's going to taste quite nice. For people unfamiliar with it, erussery is a dish of red beans and pumpkin with coconut. A little on the sweet side but quite hearty with the beans and pumpkin.

Ingredients
3/4 cup  red beans soaked overnight (note: red beans is not rajma. In Hindi its red chavli)
150g      pumpkin diced
1/4tsp    turmeric
1/2"          jaggery
4tbsp     grated coconut
3            green chillis
1/2tsp    cumin seeds
3            shallots diced

For tempering
1/2 tsp   mustard
2 shallots finely sliced
1 sprig curry leaves
2 tbsp   grated coconut
2 tbsp  coconut oil

Method
Cook red beans in a pressure cooker. I waited for around 5 whistles.
Release pressure, add pumpkins, turmeric & salt and cook for one whistle.
Release pressure. At this point if there is extra water, drain.
Add the jaggery and allow it to melt.
Meanwhile grind grated coconut, chillis, cumin & shallots to a coarse grind. Do not make it smooth
Add this to the beans and pumkin mix and stir around till its coated.
Temper mustard seeds, shallots, curry leaf and fry coconut till it turns brown and crispy.
Pour tempering over the mix and stir



PS: Erussery is supposed to be a little mushy. Mine got a little too mushy cos I ground the coconut too much. That's not supposed to happen in the ideal world.
If you make this and you have pachchadi and inji puli, a sambar is pretty much all that's required to complete a meal.


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